Coptus Wollaston, 1873

Davis, Steven R., 2017, Coptus Wollaston (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cossoninae): A genus new to China with descriptions of two new species, Zootaxa 4312 (2), pp. 381-393 : 382

Coptus Wollaston, 1873

Coptus Wollaston, 1873: 439 , 492, 578.

Type species: Coptus oculatus Wollaston, 1873: 639 [designated by Voss 1956: 141]. Gender masculine.

Diagnosis. Species of Coptus can be recognized by the following characters. Body: small, parallel-sided, moderately depressed; eyes: large, convex laterally; frons between eyes as broad as or broader than base of rostrum; post-ocular constriction almost touching eyes; temples parallel-sided; rostrum: broad, as long as wide, slightly narrower than head, parallel-sided, curved, truncate anteriorly, shorter than pronotum; antenna: inserted near base of rostrum; funicle with seven articles, second article strongly abbreviated; club abrupt; pronotum: slightly constricted at apex, not bisinuate at base; scutellum visible; elytra: not setose; legs coxae widely and subequally separated; tibiae normal; third tarsomere entire or slightly notched medially (bilobed); tarsomere five clavate ( Wollaston 1873; Marshall 1937; Morimoto 1973).

Taxonomic note about related genera. The main characters distinguishing Stenotrupis Wollaston and Eremotes Wollaston from Coptus Wollaston are given following, as some species from these genera have been transferred to Coptus . The genus Stenotrupis has a slender body; rostrum longer than head; distance twice or more as long as the diameter of eye between the eye and the post ocular constriction; elytra minutely pubescent at apex; coxae equally separated (e.g. Stenotrupis marshalli Zimmermann , (http://www.padil.gov.au/maf-border/pest/main/ 140333 )). The genus Eremotes Wollaston (as a synonym Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal (1999) of Rhyncolus Germar ) has a short and wide rostrum; scape shorter than funicle; excessively shortened second joint of the funicle (which is nearly hidden within the enlarged basal one); a postocular constriction not touching eye; front coxa narrowly separated; mesosternum narrower than coxa (e.g. Rhyncolus (Eremotes) elongatus (Gyllenhal) : http:// www.meloidae.com/en/pictures/26469/) ( Wollaston 1861 & 1873; Marshall 1937; Morimoto 1973).

Distribution: West New Guinea, Moluccas, Congo, Seychelles, India, Indonesia, China.